Two of the leading events for independent optical practices will join forces in 2016 in an effort to alleviate the pressure placed on practices and the optical industry by the plethora of events that have sprung up in recent years.
Independents Day and the National Eyecare Group conference will combine in 2016 to put on a single event and exhibition to serve the independent sector. iDay will move from the July 4 slot it has occupied for 10 years and move to the NEG conference’s November slot.
The format of the new event is still under discussion, however, it’s likely that NEG will run its free-to-attend members’ conference on the Sunday, with Independents Day following on the Monday.
Nick Atkins, director of Proven Track Record which organises iDay said a link-up between the two events made sense for everyone concerned. ‘With an increasingly crowded optical events calendar this is a sensible move for practices and industry alike. There is only so much time owners can take out of their businesses every year and industry cannot be expected to continue to fund so many events through sponsor and exhibition fees.’
Phil Mullins, NEG’s director of business development said combining with iDay was the best way it could support the independent sector. ‘We're really enthusiastic about embarking on this new adventure with the PTR team to create a new combined event that everyone connected with independent practice can benefit from.’
The traditional programme of biennial Optrafair exhibitions was broken by the arrival of 100% Optical in 2014. Since its arrival the sector has had four exhibitions every two years rather than one, along with four conferences for independents.